Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-31
TALK ABOUT BEEF SHIPMENTS.
The British Refrigerating Steamship Now
in GalVeston-areet Development of the
Beef Industry.


in Galveston-areat Development of the
Beef Industry.
Galveston News, August IS.
"Yes, SIR" ssid the captain of the
Loeb Ard, to News reporter yesterday,
"this business OF shipping refrigerated
meat is pretty good one" The Loch
Ard has been mentioned before in these
columns. She Is now at Kuhn's wharf
awaiting shipments Of beef from the in
terror, which will be transferred to her
reirlgerating compartments. The cap.
tain, stout, Jolly faced British seaman,
was engaged yesterday in telling 9 News
reporter OF the different classes Of beef
shipped to England, and from what
countries il came.
"You have no idea what an enormous
quantity OF beef is shipped to England
alone," continued the captain. "Egery
day vessels from Australia, South Amer
lea and the United States enter the
Thames and discharge their cargoes OF
beet st the London docks. There it IS
quickly taken charge oi by the London
Consignees snd finds ready market. Cat
lie are slain By the thousand III Australia
and shipped from Sydney, the principal
Australian pOrt, after having been prop
erIy dressed and prepared for packing.
Since the Introduction OF refrigerating
compartments in vessels engaged in this
traffic the trade has increased in
proportion. At one time it was almost
matter OF impossibility to get beef
70 England in g perfectly fresh condition,
owing to the long passage over water. No
matter how closely it was slowed away
from the air g goodIy portion of the cargo
would be found to be IN semi-stste Of
putrefsctioa when the vessel ultimately
resched its destination. This great OBJ
stacle in the way Of beef shipments has
been practically surmounted, however,
and the trade has increased enormously.
In the interior of Australia the shippers
Of beef have regular krasl5 for their cat
tie, covering any number of acres. These
kreals are constructed out Of peculiar
kind OF flexible wood, of thin texture and
as tough as. the Irish bogoak. The walls
are built to height OF about
six feet generally, though they
are frequently built to height
of eight and ten feet. The custom Of
| keeping cattle in krasls originated with
the natlves, not only Of Australia, but CT
Africa and other countries in which IN
civilized races hold sway. IN this coun-
try and in England they would, I pre-
sumo, be called stock pens, though the
method of construction widely differs.
And yet believe that the kraai system is
the best, notwithstanding the fact that it
originated with sayages. II allows the
cattle unliu tied freedom Gnd pasture
grounds, and they roam about a. Will. OF
course 1t would be quite expensive to
erect one of these kraals upon an open
prairie in Texas, where timber could no..
be easily or chesply secured, but it is &
far better method of keeping cattle. The
wood used in their construction in Africa
aud Australia costs comparatively
nothing, as it abounds everywhere. Bo5
even in the event that the wood could not
be procured there is no reason why the
walls could not be built out of other
cheap material. Clay would answer the
purpose admirably, il OF the proper
adhesive quality, and if 8 sufficient qusn-
tity could be secured. The interior of 6
kraal resembles huge amphitheateT, and
often covers so much ground that the
cattle viewed at the other end appear rs
small as dogs. Melbourne is also another
great place for shipping cattle N Austria
la, and the two cities vie with each other
IN this industry. You might not believe
it, but it is tact that England receives
almost half Of the beef that is shipped &c
Europe from foreign countries. O.
course you have heard of the grea'
quantity of beef that is consumed
in Z gland? 1t has been sale
that such reports are greatly exaggerated
but such is not the case. The tern
'beef-eating' WAS not applied to til;
English without good reason. In the CITY
of London alone the quantity of beef con
!. sumed every day by the Inhabitants !:
something appalling. You can secure al
known meats st all kinds OF prices. II
some places in London, what appears Il
be irst-class beef can be purchased 70
tuppence ha'penny q pound, which i
, equivalent to cents in American money
That Is about as cheap IS l ever heard OF
lEbct would not vouch for the quality.
> do not think that beef of sny description
S was ever sold SO chesply in the Unite
States. The refrigerated beef shippe
from Texas, however, seems to b
regarded with especial favor, and O
= course higher rate is placed upon
:. than native beef. This foreign bee
:, finds its way into every city Of any prom
inence throughout England, snd inyari
ably meets with ready sale, SO grea
% is the demand for beef in England, nov
ever, that l believe it would be accepte
from any quarter of the globe. Ia II
gard to Texas refrigerated beef, contract
are previously made between the col
signees and meTchan who deal in tn
. traffic, so that g large portion OF it is il
" medistely disposed upon the srrival (
e the vessel in port. Great sums Of none
lie change hands between the consignee a.
d tie merchants, the consignee, OF coul:
Il allowing himself z vide margin in ora,
10 to secure satisfactory psoti. to hinge